THE QUEEN (Stephen Frears, Miramax, 2006)

Strangely, watching THE QUEEN (Stephen Frears, Miramax, 2006) for the very first time the other day what struck me as most remarkable about the film was the art direction and production design. Every aspect of these areas was done well. Makeup, costume design, set design et al were superb. Of course the performances were also really well done, the writing good and the direction of Frears superlative. But the world created by the stellar production design of Alan MacDonald was simply amazing. Simply put, the dichotomy between the world of the royals and that of the Prime Minister was fascinating. MacDonald does an excellent job of showing us the gilded life of the royals, from lavish sets to lush costumes, incredible makeup on the actors and showing us a world we all long to see and maybe reside in if only just for a bit. He then turns around and gives us a Prime Minister that is one of us, an every day man who wears soccer jerseys and lives in the suburbs. I am not sure which was more revelatory to me. That the Prime Minister of England would remain living in his home or this dichotomy between the two worlds. And this is what the film is describing best. The royals have almost become anachronistic, past use at this point. The queen lives in her insular world, almost not wanting to believe she doesn't have power still. I know the part of Phillip (James Cromwell) showed this brilliantly, Cromwell playing the bombastic monarch drunk with perceived power. I think here is where the magnificent portrayal of Elizabeth by Helen Mirren shines best. Mirren plays the Queen with all the stoicism we expect but the performance is so strong that she layers it with a nuanced vulnerability. We see her as a trapped animal, running out of room to run. The analogy between the Queen and the hunted stag is quite obvious. The Queen is running out of options and time and has no place to go. Eventually, the monarchy will end. There are some subtleties to the film as well that work perfectly. Alexander Desplat's touching score deftly gives depth and emotion to the royals, softly shooting the hard exterior of Elizabeth. And Michael Sheen. How has he not won an Oscar yet? This man gives remarkable performance after remarkable performance. His day is coming surely. Finally, I have always had a weakness for all things British, particularly their lasses. Diana probably had much to do with this as I remember having a complete crush on the Princess. I vaguely remember her wedding being a pretty huge deal and when I was growing up she was always in TV, in the tabloids, etc. I remember my grandfather and I watching in dejected silence when the news of her crash reached us. That weekend was a solemn one, and we were thousand of miles away in Los Angeles. What a tragic end to such a beautiful life.